By Tom Frary
Some stellar fillies have crossed York's Knavesmire down the years, but the G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Epsom Oaks heroine Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is up there with the best after her saunter through Thursday's G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks. With an epic G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the offing in six weeks' time, there will be few who will sleep easy with Ballydoyle's leading prospect looming large on the horizon. While her performances in the June 7 Newmarket and July 4 Epsom Classics left none in any doubt that she was in a territory of her own, this staging post to ParisLongchamp only served to confirm her elevated level of ability and the fact remains that on the first Sunday in October she will be getting weight from all her main rivals. Ryan Moore proved just a passenger here, with the 4-9 favourite travelling smoothly in second tracking Manuela de Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) before being shaken up to take control approaching two out. If the slightly easy ground was compromising her, it did not seem so as she proved totally dominant en route to a five-length success from the progressive Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), with One Voice (Ire) (Poet's Voice {GB}) two lengths back in third as they finished strung out. “She's straightforward and realistically this was her easiest task for a while,” her rider commented. “They had to step up to run to her level and she was very professional–it was business as usual for her today. The ground's a bit dead and it was a worry for her, as when I rode her in the Debutante last year I thought it was a bit slow for her but she's obviously thrived and got stronger. She's been exceptional every start and we'll see how she is over the next six weeks.”
Love seems to have been growing in stature with each passing month, causing an upset but leaving noone in any doubt that she clear best in the G3 Silver Flash S. over seven furlongs at Leopardstown last July and following up in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. at The Curragh in September. In between, she was undone by easy ground when fifth in the G2 Debutante S. at that latter venue and it may be that the similar going took the edge off her as she was third in the G1 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket in October. Her performances this season have taken her to the top of the tree among her stable's 3-year-olds and while Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) gets the chance to back up his Derby romp in next month's G1 Grand Prix de Paris, it will be a surprise if Moore is not on Love in the Arc.
The winner is a half-sister to Lucky Kristale (GB) (Lucky Story), who captured the G2 Lowther S. at this meeting having won the G2 Cherry Hinton S. The dam Pikaboo (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) has done well with matings with Galileo, producing this stable's group 3-winning fillies Flattering (Ire) and Peach Tree (Ire) for the Coolmore monarch before Love appeared. Pikaboo is a half-sister to the seven-furlong specialist and dual G2 Park S.-winning sire Arabian Gleam (GB) by Pivotal's son Kyllachy (GB), and the listed-winning sprinter Kimberella (GB) also by Kyllachy. Two other of her half-siblings Light Quest (Quest For Fame {GB}) and Cute (GB) (Diktat {GB}) have also proven smart producers in their own right. The former was responsible for the G3 Prix Fille de l'Air scorer and stakes producer Skia (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) and the Singapore Gold Cup winner Tropaios (GB) (Excellent Art {GB}), while Cute is the dam of the recent Listed Midsummer S. winner and G1 Prix d'Ispahan third Pogo (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}). This is also the family of the G1 English and Irish 2000 Guineas-winning sire Don't Forget Me (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}).
Thursday, York, Britain
DARLEY YORKSHIRE OAKS-G1, £250,000, York, 8-20, 3yo/up, f, 11f 188yT, 2:31.31, gd.
1–LOVE (IRE), 124, f, 3, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Pikaboo (GB), by Pivotal (GB)
2nd Dam: Gleam of Light (Ire), by Danehill
3rd Dam: Gold Runner, by Runnett (GB)
O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. £141,775. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Ire, 10-6-1-1, $929,001. *Full to Flattering (Ire), GSW-Ire & SP-Eng; and Peach Tree (Ire), GSW-Ire, $142,207; and 1/2 to Lucky Kristale (GB) (Lucky Story), MGSW-Eng, $288,793. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Alpinista (GB), 124, f, 3, Frankel%20(GB)#tot">Frankel (GB)–Alwilda (GB), by Hernando (Fr). O/B-Kirsten Rausing (GB); T-Sir Mark Prescott. £53,750.
3–One Voice (Ire), 124, f, 3, Poet's Voice (GB)–Zaaqya (GB), by Nayef. (€55,000 Ylg '18 GOFSPT). O-Craig Bernick; B-J Lenihan (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington. £26,900.
Margins: 5, 2, 2 1/4. Odds: 0.44, 33.00, 12.00.
Also Ran: Manuela de Vega (Ire), Frankly Darling (GB), Franconia (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
